That is the kind of rubbish people have been conditioned into believing, and illustrates the extent to which the 'wealthy uber-class' and the 'poor
under-class' is now not only seen as normal, but necessary.

Most of the world is going through an economic crisis. The world KNOWS US is almost bankrupt. It would be refreshing to see some of the leaders
actually tightening their belt as well - oh ho, that would show INTEGRITY,, heaven forbid!

But hey, Obama personally made $85 million dollars from the oil spill, so why should anyone worry or expect him to give that back to the American
people he stole it from, and the families of those murdered in the Gulf.

Originally posted by ~Lucidity
It probably costs taxpayers that much a day no matter where she is.

Biggest non-issue of the week to get angry about.

No it is not a "non" issue. The fact is Democrats say they are for the poor and downtrodden however behave like the millionaires most of them are.
It is not about how much it cost on a daily basis to protect "Her Majesty Michelle" it is the appearance of living the life of a princess whilst the
poor, millions of unemployed and downtrodden struggle on a daily basis just to get by. Have you no compassion? Imagine if a Republican had done this -
oh my all hell would have broken loose - and you know it!

But hey, Obama personally made $85 million dollars from the oil spill, so why should anyone worry or expect him to give that back to the American
people he stole it from, and the families of those murdered in the Gulf.

What gets me is that it was Baraks' birthday and he celebrated it without Michelle or or his children present. There must be some marital problems at
work here. Any "normal" family would want to be together on birthdays.

...while most of the country is pinching pennies and downsizing summer sojourns - or forgoing them altogether - the Obamas don't seem to be
heeding their own advice. While many of us are struggling, the First Lady is spending the next few days in a five-star hotel on the chic Costa del Sol
in southern Spain with 40 of her "closest friends." According to CNN, the group is expected to occupy 60 to 70 rooms, more than a third of the
lodgings at the 160-room resort. Not exactly what one would call cutting back in troubled times.

It looks like "get it while you can because it's not going to last forever."

While most Americans say it's going to last for only two more years, America deserves this for another 6.

Americans that didn't vote for them, and I didn't, will be patient so the ones that voted for them can see what a mistake they've made. Suffer
Obama supporters, suffer.

Ignoring domestic feelings about this there are reasons for why a First Lady would travel in this manner. Ignoring logistics - for example the ton of
support personnel involved - a First Lady cannot be seen vacationing on "the cheap". It might well make Americans feel a bit better if she did so
but it would do more harm to the world economy and to our nations political power than it would do good at home. A representative of her status has to
be seen in a certain light to demonstrate our countries power and wealth. Maybe she is milking it a bit, but overall it's a necessary evil.

My favorite part of this controversy was that the U.S. State Department had to issue a directive that Spain was no longer considered racist - just
before MO's plane landed there.

Well. In my way of thinking no input into debate qualifies as "rubbish". But to each his own.

My opinion is that the ruling class / peasant class argument is the invalid one. In a representative democratic republic (which we have) the majority
holds power. Since the majority are not uber rich it follows that the ruling class actually operates from the bottom up.

And I stand by my opinion that a representative of the US should portray an image of wealth and power. Michelle Obama isn't operating as a private
citizen at this point in her life, even though she is one. She is basically an ambassador for this nation and should behave accordingly. This trip was
certainly scheduled and engineered with political agendas in mind, and was carried out accordingly.

Originally posted by ~Lucidity
It probably costs taxpayers that much a day no matter where she is.

Biggest non-issue of the week to get angry about.

No it is not a "non" issue. The fact is Democrats say they are for the poor and downtrodden however behave like the millionaires most of them are.
It is not about how much it cost on a daily basis to protect "Her Majesty Michelle" it is the appearance of living the life of a princess whilst the
poor, millions of unemployed and downtrodden struggle on a daily basis just to get by. Have you no compassion? Imagine if a Republican had done this -
oh my all hell would have broken loose - and you know it!

Oh you mean like The Bush's trip to Africa? And how the left-wing press didn't make much of a peep about it? Because that's what FIRST FAMILIES
do.

You right-wingers try to make this an issue, but when it's your own party doing it, you don't say ****. Either do what I do, and don't say ****
about it regardless of party , or.....stop being hypocritical and criticize EVERYONE who does it.

Originally posted by ~Lucidity
It probably costs taxpayers that much a day no matter where she is.

Biggest non-issue of the week to get angry about.

The problem is that alone, they are all non-issues. If the economy was booming, approval for the president was up, and this wasn't the third or
fourth unnecessary, completely costly trip....then a non-issue it would be.

However, that is not the case.

At what point do people start actually breaking out the calculators?

[I'm combining Obama & Michelle's "fun"]

Martha's Vineyard....two throw-out-the-first pitch ball games....Hawaii, twice, once with a boatload of friends.....Copenhagen (this trip WAS not
vital to US interests and was a pet project)........town halls galore......Camp David, three times..........date night in NYC.....

I'm sure there are more but those are the ones off the top of my head.

We are still losing jobs. Not stagnant, not gaining.....losing.

Everything is the world --including vacation -- seems to come before putting Americans back to work. It's been a year and a half and we are still
losing jobs.

We can not have a jobless recovery while still maintaining welfare payments, food stamps, social security, medicare / medicaid, and unemployment.

We are in the red and there is nobody additional to add to the paying into the system, only those still looking to withdraw.

At some point, people better start realizing that we could have provided unemployment benefits for a year for two people at least with
the amount of money that she spent on this vacation. And yes, we are at the point that even just two people's benefits getting paid for helps.

In the mean time a Mexican dies from a trillion dollar drug war that doesn't work.

In the mean time an Iraqi dies in a war that did not work.

In the mean time an Afghan dies in in a war that did not work.

In the mean time international bankers are still ripping you off.

In the mean time a U.S. soldier dies in wars that do not work.

Yet members here want to take issue with first lady taking a vacation out of the U.S.. Do you own her??? They took a trip. Big deal. Other U.S.
presidents have also taken vacations abroad. Here's that previously posted link again..

Originally posted by Intelearthling
...while most of the country is pinching pennies and downsizing summer sojourns - or forgoing them altogether - the Obamas don't seem to be heeding
their own advice. While many of us are struggling, the First Lady is spending the next few days in a five-star hotel on the chic Costa del Sol in
southern Spain with 40 of her "closest friends." According to CNN, the group is expected to occupy 60 to 70 rooms, more than a third of the lodgings
at the 160-room resort. Not exactly what one would call cutting back in troubled times.

ALL WRONG! The Hotel and other personal expenses were paid for OUT OF THE OBAMA'S PERSONAL WALLET.

The ONLY cost to the TaxPayer was the Security Detail (which they pay for anyway) and reimbursement for the plane-trip over, since it was part of an
official trip to Spain.

So tell me IntelEarthling, if you were a multi0millionaire at this very moment, would you cut back on your PERSONAL SPENDING just because the country
is in a recession?

This is the big problem with the current state of our main-stream media in America. Each individual station cares more about "politics" and painting
their opponents in a bad-light than actually reporting some substantial truth.

So once again, when it comes to Obama, we are faced with a "there are more atrocities happening to get upset about than this" so move on.

There are more than 50 threads on this site about issues just like this -- costing the taxpayers unnecessary money while not doing anything to improve
jobs or the economy as a whole.

There are more than 30+ million unemployed -- how many vacation trips do you think they are all going on?

This is the first, it isn't the second trip -- he has only been in office 18 or so months and he has said himself that he began the Presidency
at one of the most difficult entry points of any President.

Don't you seriously think that celebrations and good times could be a little less frequent and maybe wait until there is some good news to report ?

Here is my take on the entire trip to Spain issue.
It is an insult and a slap in the face of the American Tax payer and the country at large right now. Our economy is hurting and especially the gulf
coast. The President has visited and stated the Gulf Coast is ok, and for the people to come on down. So why did she not take her daughter and
travel down to one of the Gulf Coast states, that have been affected by the oil spill, to help drum up the economy for the people that need such? I
find that the entire European trip is a waste of time and money on the part of the entire federal government. Or why could the First Lady not take
the time to travel through the country to visit, oh lets think about what she is pushing: Farms and ranches, to promote healthy eating and the
benifits of all natural foods? That way it would be a working vacation, and help out people in different areas. All this is just a bit of of abuse
on the part of the President and his family.

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